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New Mexico Bans Death Penalty

Guv abolishes executions after wrestling with conscience

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 19, 2009 3:14 AM CDT

(Newser) – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has signed a bill abolishing the state's death penalty, reports the Santa Fe New Mexican. Richardson, who formerly supported capital punishment, said replacing execution with life in prison without the possibility of parole was “the most difficult decision of his political life.” He noted that 130 death-row prisoners have been exonerated in the last decade, four of them in New Mexico.

“I do not have confidence in the criminal justice system as it currently operates to be the final arbiter when it comes to who lives and who dies for their crime," said Richardson. His state becomes only the second to ban executions since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. The move will not affect the sentences of the two prisoners currently on death row.

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New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said deciding to abolish the death penalty was the toughest choice of his political life. (AP Photo/Roswell Daily Record Mark Wilson)

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has signed a bill repealing the state's death penalty. (AP Photo / Craig Fritz)

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Faced with the reality that our system for imposing the death penalty can never be perfect, my conscience compels me to replace the death penalty with a solution that keeps
society safe. - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 5 comments

Rob

Mar 20, 2009 12:02 PM CDT

I wonder who here is the most stung. Poor mad, has to flail around when he get walloped in one corner and then go to another so no one can see his shame. It’s ok, cow boy, I’ll be more than happy to take you on. Just try to stay in one place instead of leaving your little insults scattered like tiny Easter eggs. Fun to find but I just don’t want to miss any.

Rob

Mar 19, 2009 12:18 PM CDT

Good god, mad, you turn this into an anti-conservative comment, making you a one trick show. Both sad and fun when you show your true face and its single dimension.

Mad

Mar 19, 2009 8:42 AM CDT

Righteous, Brother Richardson. Clemency, demonstrating mercy, is true compassion that conservatives rarely seem to exhibit. Bless your wisdom

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US • Crime & Courts

death penalty • Bill Richardson • New Mexico • lethal injection • execution • capital punishment

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New Mexico Bans Death Penalty